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La Cañada Man Convicted of Molesting a Young Boy and Girl

Courtesy Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office

Courtesy Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office

A man was convicted today of sexually assaulting two family members, a young boy and a girl, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.

Jurors deliberated for three days before finding 45-year-old Michael Dane Ward of La Cañada-Flintridge guilty of four counts of lewd act on a child, two counts of forcible lewd act on a child under 14, three counts of oral copulation of a child 10 years old or younger and one count of sodomy with a child under 10.

Sentencing is set for Oct. 19 when Ward faces a possible maximum sentence of life in prison.

Deputy District Attorney Guillermo Santiso of the Sex Crimes Division prosecuted the case.

Both victims were under the age of 10 when the sexual assaults occurred between October 2013 and November 2015. The two victims testified at trial against Ward, a former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department psychologist.

Case BA446469 was investigated by LASD’s Special Victims Bureau.

News Release from Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.